


Part-Time Mermaid

by NelwynP



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Comedy, F/M, Gen, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Mermaids, Senshi & Shitennou Mini Bang 2019, fae
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-09
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2021-02-01 03:42:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21362011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NelwynP/pseuds/NelwynP
Summary: Times have changed since the old days, and the Faerie Realm has adapted accordingly. Many faerie-related shenanigans ensue. Episodes will be updated periodically.
Relationships: Aino Minako/Kunzite, Kino Makoto/Nephrite, Senshi/Shitennou
Comments: 22
Kudos: 12
Collections: Senshi & Shitennou Reverse Mini Bang 2019





	1. Episode 1: The Setup

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Passionrice](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Passionrice/gifts).

> A huge thank you to Passionrice for her amazing artwork that inspired me to write again after a 7-year hiatus. Thank you for being a great partner in this and being so patient with me!
> 
> Also a huge thank you to CopperCrane2, an amazing and encouraging beta without whom I would have given up on this project before I even started. Thank you for talking me into joining this event.

* * *

The air was thick, saturated with the scents of spiced meats and fresh fruits, travel-worn bodies and exotic perfumes; dense with raucous laughter of giddy patrons, bellowing shouts of vendors, and clashing strains of various musicians and performers. Stalls stretched across the endless field in rough lines, some piled high with sacks of fruit or powdered spices in pyramids of red and gold, others laden with technological curiosities or delicately crafted collectibles. Some vendors, unable to get any closer to the heart of the market, sold directly from the backs of their carts, trucks or horses; shouting into the crowd as potential buyers pressed in to get a better look at their wares. Everywhere the marketplace ebbed and flowed with a churning sea of people celebrating in the revelry of the annual Goblin Market.

The Goblin Market only happened once a year and lasted one day and one night, each year traveling from location to location throughout the Faerie Realm, Elphyne. Those fae who were able to make it to the marketplace could find anything; memories of a first kiss or miniature psychic elephants, alchemic transmutations or proofreaders for spells and curses. Costs were always negotiable, sometimes exchanged for fae coin and sometimes for favors. Particularly popular were items from the Human Realm, widely used but increasingly less common as travel between the realms dried up after King Oberon issued the Protections against Unregistered Human Crossing Act, otherwise known as PUHCA. Those who were unable to make it to the market dreamed of the day they could, or hired others to attend in their stead. 

For Midi, the marketplace would have appeared to be an ideal filming location. After all, the entire premise of her TV show was to find rare treasures, acquire them and sell them to viewers. Usually that meant a lot of travelling and a lot of digging through rubbish for limited results, but with her ravishing good looks and riveting performance skills (and the help of a very talented lorist) she had little trouble selling even the most worthless junk to eager fans. Now however, she and her crew stood at the edge of the field and she found herself filled with misgivings. Ratings had declined in the last few months, and the Producer had spoken: if they couldn’t produce a spectacular show, he would reassign the team to different projects.

“Do you think it’ll work, Ruu?” she asked, her voice raised despite her close proximity to the director in order to be heard over the rumble of thousands of other voices. “I mean, _ everyone _ covers the Goblin Market. It’s not exactly going to set us apart.”

“Exactly,” Ruuhketal snapped, canines flashing momentarily. “Everyone covers it, so if we don’t we _ are _ getting set apart, but not in a good way. If we want to save the show, the producer said we needed to get more viewers. To get more viewers, we need to film something that people actually watch. This is the equivalent of, what’s that thing they watch in the human realm, where they throw the lumpy ball around and wrestle? The _ Supercup _? Biggest viewership of the season, and I’m not about to lose a show we’ve both worked so hard on just because you think The Goblin Market is...”

“Tedious? Overdone?” Both their eyes fell on a man, likely a troll, carrying a large jar of eyeballs strapped to his back. The eyeballs blinked back at them, causing Midi to wrinkle her nose in distaste. “Kinda gross?”

“Those look delicious.” Ruu licked her lips and hungrily stared after the man even as she continued her conversation. “Whatever. It’s one episode, Midi, deal with it. Jav, do you see a good place to set up the camera?” This last was directed at the third member of their trio, a tall blonde man carrying a large camera on one well muscled shoulder and an equipment bag on the other.

“If we get much closer we might be overrun. Here’s probably as good a place as any.”

“Fine. Set it up.” Ruuhketal waved an impatient hand and turned back to Midi with her critical eye. “Makeup looks good, finish your hair and wardrobe. We shoot in five.”

Midi’s nod was only marginally sullen as she pulled back her hair with a large red bow to match her lipstick and a stunning golden blazer. She leaned forward and shook her shoulders, then straightened and tugged down on the edge of her shirt. When she caught Ruu rolling her eyes, she gave a coy grin and blew her a kiss. Jav checked the framing, waving his hand to nudge Midi into the best shot he could with such crowds pressing around them. Ruu watched over his shoulder, murmuring instructions in his ear. When they were both satisfied, he threw Midi an enthusiastic thumbs-up. She took a deep breath and put on her most fervent smile.

“Welcome back to another episode of _ Fae Finds _. I’m Midi Molaha, and I travel to the far corners of Elphyne to find see just how far we can make a simple barter go. I’m willing to barter for anything I think I can trade in for a higher value. Today we’ve travelled to the famous Goblin Market. I’ll start the show by getting the best item I can for a single fae coin, and who knows where things will go from there. Let’s get an eye on what folks have brought to the market today!” She stepped aside with a dramatic sweep of her arm to allow Jav to pan the teeming chaos behind them. 

The rest of the day was spent navigating the endless stalls seeking unique gems. They started with a memory charm in exchange for a coin and a kiss, and from there the bartering rapidly escalated. The memory charm was exchanged for a ship in a bottle, waves still rolling, and that in turn was traded up for a set of baby teeth, which was exchanged for a box of human grain cereal flavored like marshmallows. The bartering continued on and on as the team moved through the booths, Midi shining like the pro she was. Occasionally the exchange went too smoothly, so Ruu would cut the camera and coach the vendor on a few ways to build drama into the barter, all in the name of boosting viewership. One dragon vendor tried to bid up the exchange for Midi’s golden hair, which horrified the host and delighted the director. The dragon did not get the hair, but did finally exchange a human electronic pet he called a “_ tamogatchi” _ for Midi’s favorite song and a stack of shiny discs labeled AOL.

“And… cut!” 

Midi let the bright smile on her face relax into a natural charm and tossed her long blonde hair back over her shoulder in a gesture of victory. She handed the microphone back to Jav and rolled her shoulders. Ruuhketal checked her clipboard as Jav knelt behind Midi and began packing up equipment. “Thank goodness. Did we get enough? I’m exhausted.”

“I think we got most of it. We should get a few stock shots of calls to Aereris for some lore-checks, and we’ll still need a few shots of -- watch out!” 

Ruu’s warning came too late, as Midi’s ankle caught on the camera cable. In slow motion, they watched as Midi crashed forward, toppling the camera stand and camera beneath her. There was a terrible _ crunch _followed by the unmistakable sound of shattering glass.

“Is it….”

“Get. Up. Now.” Ruu breathed, eyes not leaving the terrible sight of the battered camera. Midi scrambled to her feet, blue eyes wide with fear as she looked anxiously between Ruu and Jav.

“Jav, is it…”

“Give me a moment, I’ll check.” He hastily knelt by the twisted plastic pieces, but there was little to be done. He shook his blonde curls in dismay. “Busted. I’m sorry, Ruu, I can’t do anything with this. We’ll need a replacement before we can shoot anymore.”

“And the footage?”

They all winced. Human tech did not respond predictably to fae magic, which meant that if something human-made broke in Elphyne there was little to be done except get a new one. Midi felt her stomach drop as Jav punched buttons on the camera, trying to bring up anything that was left of all their hard work that day. Finally he pursed his lips and sat back on his heels.

I’ll bring it back to the studio to see if Aereris can do anything with it, but it’s beyond my magic.” 

Ruuhketal let her breath out in a hiss and pinched the bridge of her nose. “You broke it. You replace it.”

“Ruu…” Midi whimpered, distress marring her features. “It was an accident! Please don’t make me go there.”

“We might have gotten one at the market today, but now it’s closed until next year. We can’t get one from the network because our show is on thin ice. I don’t have any black-market contacts that I can get a camera from on short notice, do you? And if we can’t shoot, we can’t save the show.” Her eyes flashed at Midi. “You’ll have to go to the human realm.”

The finality of her words left Midi deflated. Jav clapped a conciliatory hand on her shoulder before starting to clean up the broken pieces of plastic and glass.


	2. Episode 1: Cataclysm

“...and now she’s making me go get a new one from the human realm, can you believe it?” Midi’s voice came across thin and tinny through the compact mirror. Zarik rolled his eyes at the whine in his sister’s voice as he tried to look past her image to catch his own reflection and adjust his strawberry-blonde hair to cover the distinctive point in his ears. 

“Is that why you called me?” he drawled, letting some smugness leak into his tone. “Because I’ve become famous for my expert knowledge of the human realm?” 

“I’d hardly call you famous. Your show barely has more viewers than mine. Besides, I heard that they only keep renewing your contract because the producer has a crush on your director,” Midi trilled at him in a singsong voice. Zarik pulled an unattractive face.

“That is a ridiculous notion, I am a highly qualified and sought after human realm expert. I can barely keep up with all the fanmail I get each day. And even if the producer had a...a..._ thing _ for Oriana,” Zarik shuddered delicately as he looked over his shoulder to his director, who was barely succeeding in balancing herself as she tried to pull a pair of rainbow coveralls over her delicately hooved feet, “it wouldn’t be the _ only _ reason my travel show is so successful.”

“You keep telling yourself that. But yes, I did call in hopes that you might help me. Can you get a camera for me so I don’t have to cross over? I mean, it looks like you’re there already, so it’d hardly be trouble for you.” Midi batted her eyelashes. Zarik snorted.

“Put those baby blues away, little one, they won’t work on me.” Zarik patted down his hair again self-consciously. “Yes, I am in the human realm now, but I’m in the middle of filming. So no, I can’t just pick one up for you. Deal with your own mess like a big girl. I have to go, it looks like Lasdin and Oriana are suited up. Kisses!” He waggled his fingers at the mirror and snapped the compact shut before Midi could whine at him further. 

Truly, he couldn’t blame Midi for being reluctant to come to the human realm. In the past, fae could travel easily between the two realms and the humans they encountered would treat them with awe and respect. But attitudes had shifted away from reverence and towards suspicion, and an encounter with a human these days could easily result in tragedy if a fae wasn’t careful. It was part of why Zarik’s travel show was so popular. Curious fae could experience all the wonders humanity had to offer without any personal risk. 

Inhabitants of Elphyne had long admired Gaia and all it had to offer. The novelty of an entire realm that functioned without magic used to draw fae across the border like an exotic menagerie. Of course, crossing between realms entailed certain challenges. The humans had the powerful imaginations that shaped their surroundings, crafting everything from the magnificent structures that towered over the land to delicate contraptions small enough to wear on the wrist or fingers. The power of these collective imaginations also had a profound effect on traveling fae creatures, and affected the form fae took in their realm. 

The three fae on Zarik’s film crew benefited from recent shifts in human perception - as a leprechaun, Zarik blended in fairly easily among humans. He kept his ginger hair long to cover elfin ears, and while he did lose over a foot of height, he did not revert to full dwarfism. Oriana could remain bipedal and vaguely human thanks to the popularity of a book by one Peter S. Beagle, though she couldn’t shake the horn nor the hooves. Still, this generally wasn’t a problem simply because the lack of purity in the human realm - a unicorn can only be witnessed by the pure of heart, and the human realm was tragically wanting. As for Lasdin, a pair of sunglasses shaded her dangerous green eyes and the snakes that grew from her head camouflaged themselves in shades of brown that could easily be mistaken for dreadlocks at a distance. 

Oriana had recently decided that the show needed to incorporate more _ zest _, so instead of the traditional crossing into a liminal space such as a rest area or state park she had insisted they travel to a more populated spot. They had crossed the border into one of the wildest cities, famed among humans as a destination where everything is possible and anything goes. The film crew had crossed into the back halls of a mall in order to make any adjustments to their appearance to blend in as much as possible. Satisfied that the crew was adequately camouflaged, Oriana gave the signal and the crew entered the mall.

It was possibly one of the busiest places they had ever filmed, and Zarik had to give credit to Oriana’s vision; this would certainly be an appealing episode. The floor was a faux cobblestone, leading shoppers along narrow “streets” and through arched doorways to storefronts painted in romantic pastels. Above the storefronts were false windows and Juliet balconies overflowing with flower boxes. Zarik wondered if the flowers were false too. The ceiling was covered in colorful frescos framed in ornate gold. Street lamps lined the mall despite it being indoors, and through the center of it all ran a river in a surreal shade of blue. Gondolas floated up and down the length, slowly taking shoppers from store to store. Lasdin looked around briefly in appreciation before switching her attention to finding a frame for a shot. After a brief consultation with the director, the two women waved Zarik over to a small overlook of the canal. Zarik faced the camera with a charming smile.

“Welcome back to _ Mapping Gaia, _where we show you the best and safest places to travel while Fae. I’m your host, Zarik Maloha, and today’s episode brings us to Las Vegas in the United States.This is an ideal place for new travelers to the human realm to start, because it already has a reputation among the humans. ‘What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas’ they say, which gives the travelling fae a lot of leeway.”

Lasdin panned the camera across the false street, teeming with a variety of humans. In fact, though Zarik had spent a lot of time among humans, he found himself questioning their authenticity. The shoppers that filled the mall sported a wild variety of styles and appearances. Some had colorful hair, or elaborate body art, some were heavily jeweled or had multiple piercings, some were clothed in garb reminiscent of the Renaissance period and others were barely clothed at all. 

“_ Zarik! _” Oriana hissed off camera. He flicked his eyes to her, wondering if there was something wrong with the shot. She pantomimed wildly with her hands, pointing at something just out of his line of sight. He shook his head slightly and pressed on.

“--As you can see, the humans in Vegas have a high tolerance for the out of ordinary --”

“Zarik!”

“--If you forget to cover your hooves, or accidentally curse something, humans will just chalk it up to Vegas eccentricity --”

“--Zarik, they have those sweet and sour gummy things! Quick, give me a quarter!”

“Oriana, we're in the middle of a take!" Lasdin admonished, splitting her attention between Zarik and her director, who was clearly distracted by the giant vending machine beyond where the mall entered the adjoining casino. 

“Fine then. CUT! I'm hungry.”

“...Did you just 'cut' so you could eat gummy worms?” Zarik seethed, lowering the microphone to glare at the petite director. 

“No, I cut so Zarik could give me a quarter. Then I can eat gummy worms while we do another take! Creativity requires sustenance.”

"Creativity will get us caught, we would be better off just doing a routine episode if you're going to pull me off script."

"Ah but YOUR creativity will save us from any mishaps. This show is nothing without your charm and quick thinking!”

“And just whose _ creativity _ are we feeding here?”

“All of ours? Yes. All of ours! In faaaact….” Oriana’s eyes sparkled with delight as she drawled, looping her arm conspiratorially through Zarik’s. “This would be an excellent opportunity to demonstrate to our viewers how fae can get away with making magical mistakes in this town. We can use one of your gold coins.” 

Reluctantly, Zarik pulled a coin out of his pocket and handed it to Oriana. There was a chiming sound as Oriana keyed in the vending machine numbers. The vending machine triumphantly dropped a bag of sour gummies. And then another. And another. Lasdin hoisted the camera onto her shoulder and zoomed in.

~@~ 

Today would shape up to be one of the more extraordinary days in Nick Nelson’s life, and he lived in Vegas, where extraordinary was usually just par for the course. It had started at the hotel lobby while he was trading in some chips and checking numbers for the upcoming horse race. It was early in the morning yet, so the casino floor didn’t have much activity beyond bleary-eyed addicts enchanted by slot machines, families of tourists navigating between tables like spectators at a living museum, and a few professionals like himself scoping the floor before the work day began. So when the commotion started, Nick could easily pinpoint the source.

It wasn’t a slot machine, like he first thought. Major wins could certainly happen at any time, but simply by proxy of having fewer patrons in the morning it was less likely. No, the commotion was coming from a giddy group of children, gathering around the vending machine by the mall entrance.

“Is it broken?” 

“No, honey, you can’t take a candy bar even if it’s an accident. You have to pay for it! Okay, _ one _ candy bar, please quiet down.” 

“Someone should alert maintenance. Is someone getting the staff?”

“Lord, is this a sign? Should I place my bets here tonight?”

With a _ pop _ and a _ whir _ the machine spat out another Snickers bar onto the growing pile of gummy worms, bags of chips and packets of gum already accumulating on the floor. Children wriggled free from the arms of confused and awestruck parents to dive towards the candy pile. Nick looked at the machine. The top two rows had already been emptied and the third was well under way before a hotel employee sprinted over and pulled the plug. 

The machine kept going.

That is when he noticed the pair lurking to the back of the crowd. The woman had a large, expensive looking video camera on her shoulder. How had he not noticed her immediately? She was tall and lovely, with thick dreadlocks in gold, amber and chestnut hues pulled into an elaborately fancy updo. And she wore sunglasses, despite being indoors. The ease with which she handled the obviously heavy equipment meant that she probably wasn’t day-drunk, so the sunglasses were probably some Hollywood starlet trick to prevent recognition. But then, she should be the one in front of the camera, not her small partner.

Next to her towering beauty he was startlingly short, barely reaching her shoulders. He wore his long red-gold hair in a curly ponytail, which pulled away from his face and accentuated his sharp, androgynous features. He was clearly at ease in front of the camera, moving with lithe grace around the edge of the crowd as the woman followed him faithfully. Why they were filming a broken vending machine was beyond Nick’s understanding, but he reminded himself that this was Vegas, and it wasn’t the weirdest thing people had caught on film before.

However, Nick prided himself on his ability to read people. After all, you couldn’t get very far as a professional gambler if you didn’t know how to read the people at the table. And these two looked sketchy as hell to him, and clearly had something up their sleeve, pardon the expression. As each new treat plunked from the unplugged machine, the crowd grew more intrigued and the short man became more agitated. 

There was a shout behind the crowd, the ringing of a slot machine cashing in, but Nick knew enough about misdirection that he didn’t let himself be distracted by the new ruckus. While the others crowded around the vending machine eagerly turned their attention to the casino floor, Nick continued to observe the two filmmakers.

Sure enough, once the crowd dispersed the short man hit the side of the machine and swiftly knelt to pull something from the change dispenser. With a mournful hum, the vending machine went dark. The woman turned off the camera and said something to her companion, and they turned to melt back into the crowd. If he hadn’t been utterly fascinated by the oddity of their behavior, Nick would have lost them almost immediately. 

He could place his bets later, he had nothing else going on today. This could prove to be a lot more entertaining. With a smile, he tucked his hands into his pockets and strolled out to the street after the pair.

* * *

Midi was a woman of creature comforts, and the inconveniences of metamorphosis were generally sufficient to avoid crossing between realms. She braced herself as the transformation took place. There were plenty of unpleasant drawbacks to the change, such as the second set of eyelids, lack of clothing, and the most obvious fusing of legs into a tail. Of course, there were also many things she loved about being a mermaid, like the grace and beauty of moving through water, the way the liquid bubbled in her lungs like champagne as the oxygen filtered into her system, and the raw muscled power of her fins. 

When she had sufficiently acclimated to her new form, she swam towards the surface. She wouldn’t have much luck finding a replacement camera on the ocean floor, unless there was a shipping container that had capsized and just happened to be carrying a Blackmagic URSA pro FX3500. Traveling on land was clearly going to be a problem, so her best option would be to find a human and charm them into helping her. That was risky though, as King Oberon had set forth edicts limiting the manners in which fae were allowed to interact in the human realm.

The ocean rocked and swirled around her as she breached. Wind and rain made the surface almost indistinguishable from the ocean below, and the water churned in a dangerous whirlpool created by the pull of her crossing. To her surprise, she spotted a boat cutting swiftly across the waves. It seemed to be coming straight towards her. A male voice, rough and powerful, pierced through the howling wind.

“Miss, are you okay? Stay calm, I’ll get you on board in no time!”

Midi grinned to herself. Maybe some of her brother’s leprechaun luck ran in her veins too, to have a human so close. She started to swim towards the boat the human way, but it was just too slow. A dive below the surface brought her next to the boat within moments, and when she breached the surface again she caught the surprise and relief on her human’s handsome face. She could tell he was tall, notwithstanding her vantage point from below. Even the bulky blue parka he wore could not disguise the powerful build beneath. His chiseled jaw was set in determination as his stormy eyes scanned the waves and fell back to her. She could almost see the calculations racing through his He gestured at her, urgent and precise.

“I was afraid we lost you for a moment! We must get you to safety before the storm surges. Grab hold, I’ll pull you up.” Midi startled as a large red and white plastic ring smacked the water next to her. The man had impressive aim. She stared at the ring a moment, frowning. She couldn’t exactly get on the boat without revealing herself. Besides, she knew the storm would settle now that the breach between realms was closed. The man’s urgency was misplaced.

“No thanks, I’m fine.” She swam to just below the rail he leaned upon, the push of the waves against her presenting no challenge to the powerful churn of her tail. She put on her brightest TV star smile, gazed up at him through her lashes, and laced some Charm magic into her voice. “It’s not that bad of a swim.”

Usually her light flirtation put men at ease, but her glib remark instead creased a furrow in his brow. “It’s incredibly dangerous to swim during a storm, especially when the weather service is predicting the formation of a hurricane.” The man was a lot less attractive when he was scolding. Did she not use enough Charm? He was still talking. “Conditions like these are ripe for spontaneous maelstroms and powerful undercurrents. I’m with the Coast Guard, I need you to trust me and grab the ring.”

Midi cleared her throat, letting the flow of fae magic increase as she added some Persuasion to her Charm. It seemed she would have to get straight to the point. Song and honey dripped from her lips as she asked, “Listen, I need a camera? Like, a nice one for filming. Do you have something on board?”

The abrupt shift in conversation seemed to confound him for just a moment. He pulled back from the railing and eyed her critically. “Of course, but I can’t simply  _ give  _ you my camera. This is government-issued equipment and is vital assisting in underwater wrecks.” 

“Don’t you feel... _ compelled _ to give me your camera?” Midi frowned. How was he resisting her magic?

“Miss, if I gave in to compulsion I would be quite embarrassed for myself, only children and animals are incapable of controlling their urges. I am neither. Now, I must insist you come aboard or let me escort you back to your ship, even a strong swimmer could be in danger with such turbulent weather.”

She was becoming increasingly irritated. True, she had not visited Gaia in a long while, but she didn’t recall humans being so difficult to manipulate. “Boy you sure do have a one-track mind, don’t you. If you won’t give me a camera, I’ll just ask the next guy.” She turned and began to swim away. She wasn’t sure which direction would take her towards land, but she refused to ask for any more assistance. It was clear she would get no help from him, at least not of the type she desired. 

As she pulled away, he began to call after her. “Ma’am, where are you going? Please turn around and return to safety.”

She rolled her eyes and dove briefly to drown out the calls. When she surfaced again to get her bearings, she could still hear him calling with increasing agitation. “Ma’am? Ma’am! I need you to stop swimming. Where is your vessel?”

The sky had begun to clear and she scanned for any birds that might indicate where she might encounter land or another ship. She squinted as she tried to recall; what were the rules regarding the passage of time between realms? She needed to find a replacement camera quickly. On her peripheral the voice continued to hound. “Ma’am, what you are doing is dangerous! You are purposefully putting yourself at risk.”

There was a splash. She glanced behind her in shock as the man dove off the side of the boat and started towards her with strong, assured strokes. This was not good. He hadn’t responded to her fae magic the way she expected before, which could not end well for her if he caught her now. She turned to swim away, but to her surprise found he could match her stroke for stroke. Panic started to set in - if he saw she was a mermaid, and she wasn’t able to glamour him into seeing something else, he posed a potential threat to both her and the realm. So Midi did the only thing she could think of to escape; she dove, deep and fast.

She thought she had successfully evaded him, so it shocked her into momentary submission when a pair of well-muscled arms wrapped around her torso and she began to surge again towards the surface not of her own volition. 

“Hey, let me go!” she cried, forgetting that sound did not travel the same beneath the water and he could not understand her. So she writhed in his grip, whipping her tail against his legs. He either did not feel it or was able to ignore the sensation, because with a single-minded determination he hauled her back above the waves and dragged her, shrieking, onto the deck of his boat.

“Now please stay aboard. It is a misdemeanor to ignore an officer of the Coast Guard, and I don’t want to arrest you...” his voice trailed off and his steely eyes traveled the length of her body, taking in her fin and bare breasts with equal impassive appraisal. Midi was no stranger to people looking at her, admiring her, and she held no shame about her body, but under his gaze she felt exposed and vulnerable. Heat flooded her core and she squirmed. 

“You weren’t supposed to see.” She huffed, flipping her tail behind her as if she could hide it from his piercing gaze. His calculating look seemed designed solely to make her uncomfortable, so she brazenly raked her eyes over him in return. Up close, the man was downright beautiful. His wet clothes clung provocatively to his large frame, accentuating his broad shoulders and toned arms. Water made his hair shine silver in the sunlight, cut short in a military style that brought attention to a square jaw and chiseled cheekbones. He hummed and flattened his lips.

“I suppose that explains some things.” He had the decency to look moderately apologetic, and sat back on his heels. “Should I…throw you back? What is the protocol for catching a…mermaid?”

Midi still felt bristly at the indignity of being caught. “You had no business catching me in the first place, I told you I didn’t need any help. And it’s very rude to suggest to ‘throw me back’ like I was some common tuna.”

“It’s my job to rescue people. A lot of people underestimate the dangers of the open ocean. Chief Petty Officer Kelsey Kingston, U.S. Coast Guard.” He offered a relaxed salute in lieu of a handshake. “It appears the storm has dissipated, so please tell me how I can be of assistance.”

“Well Chief Petty Officer Kelsey Kingston, you say you’re in the business of rescuing people? That’s perfect, you can rescue me. I can’t go back without that camera I was asking you for. If I don’t get it replaced, my director will rip my throat out. That’s no exaggeration, she’s a sphinx.”

This revelation did not seem to phase him. Kingston nodded slowly in thought. “I see. That is a strange predicament to be in, I’m sure, but it’s not exactly within my purview.”

“I thought you said you had an underwater camera for searching wreckage. I’m sure that would work for what I need.” Midi slid across the deck towards him and put a hand on his knee. “It’s the least you could do in exchange for capturing me so roughly.”

Kingston swallowed but shook his head firmly. “As I mentioned before, the camera on this boat is government issued. I cannot simply give it away.” A pensive look crossed his sculpted features. “Though I suppose we can fill out the SD4-32b form and try to submit it through the HSA channels. Of course to do that we’d need to also complete the HS1040 and the HS1650, both forms E and F...we’d also need your social security number and your last income tax forms. You wouldn’t happen to have that information handy, would you?”

Midi stared at him blankly. Was she mistaken, or was there a triumphant glitter in his eyes? His face remained otherwise unreadable. “I think you already know the answer to that,” she responded tartly, crossing her arms. 

“Then you’ll just need to go to a store and buy one like anyone else would.”

“Fine, as long as I get a camera quickly. Which store? Can you take me to one?”

“I suppose I could.” Kingston let out a beleaguered sigh and cleared his throat delicately. “Does…. _ that… _ go away? It’s rather...inconspicuous.”

“What do you think? If I could just will it away and appear human, don’t you think I would have done that already?” She threw her admonishments at his back, as he stood and crossed to storage cabinets near the cabin. He handed her an oversized parka and blanket.

“Then you will need to cover up when we dock so you don’t draw attention.” He did not watch as she dressed, a manner that Midi found endearing after his apparent apathy to her bareness. 

He rapped on the cabin door, presumably to signal the navigation crew to return to shore. When he put his hand on the door handle, she realized he meant to leave her alone to wait on the deck. She wasn’t sure how she felt about being so clearly dismissed, and was surprised to realize she wanted to continue their conversation, infuriating as it might be. 

She called after him, hoping to entice him back. “My name’s Midi, by the way!”

She was awarded a glance from those stormy eyes over his shoulder. “Ma’am.” He nodded in acknowledgement before ducking into the cabin, leaving the mermaid alone with her thoughts.


	3. Episode 1: Escalation

Kingston still wasn’t entirely clear on why he ended up at the National Camera Exchange, and with a mermaid in a wheelchair no less, yet here he was. Midi had swapped the oversized parka for an array of mismatched clothing from the lost & found at the docks, which probably looked ridiculous but she managed to make look fantastic. A worn out blanket was wrapped around her tail. He assumed it was just fae nature to exude an all-consuming appeal, for why else could he not take his eyes off her? He wheeled her up and down the aisle as she examined the multitude of specifications on the different models. 

“So why are you so desperate to get a camera? Can’t you just…magic one to appear?” 

She sighed heavily as she put back the info card she was looking at and picked up the next one. “If only it were that easy. No, technology is human magic; fae can use it, but we can’t create it. And I need it right away, because I broke the last one and we can’t keep filming my TV show without it.” Midi motioned for him to move her towards the next item. He obliged. “I’m pretty famous, you know. There would be a serious uproar if my show were delayed.” 

Her tone was flippant, but the tension held between her perfectly sculpted shoulder blades spoke differently. “I thought famous people had other people to run their errands for them,” he mused, watching her reaction carefully.

“Sure, there are fae who make a profession about bartering for human tech, but their prices are absurd! You couldn’t trust a brownie to get the right thing.” She spoke with heated authority, so while Kingston did not understand what a brownie was or why they were supposedly untrustworthy, he nodded with sage understanding as her diatribe grew more agitated. “And maybe my show is in a bit of a squeeze right now, but I have thousands of followers on Narciss.Us and I have plenty of influence among the courts even without the show! Eahid would be crazy to cancel everything just because we’re down some equipment. And he doesn’t even need to know about that in the first place, and none of this means anything to you, does it?”

Kingston spread his hands apologetically. “I did not mean to imply anything about your acclaim amidst your peers, I was just making an observation.”

“No, I’m sorry. I don’t know why I went off like that.” She wouldn’t meet his eyes, instead returning to the camera in her hands with overabundant enthusiasm. “I think this one will work just fine! Take me back to the boat and I’ll leave you be.”

“You need to buy it first.” Perhaps mermaids did not know how stores worked. Every moment with Midi made him feel like he knew less and less about the world. “You need money to exchange for the goods,” he patiently explained.

“Well obviously, I know how markets work. I make my living bartering for goods! And fae are not  _ thieves _ , no matter what the lore might lead you to believe. But tell me, did you see a place for me to hold money when you picked me up?” The mermaid laughed, clearly delighting in watching his expression as his mind flashed back to the moment he pulled her onto his rescue boat, bare-breasted and beautiful. Her next question brought him reeling back to the present. “Don’t you have any money?”

“Of course, but I only agreed to bring you to the store, not to get the camera for you. This isn’t really my problem to fix.”

She narrowed her eyes at him and pouted, plump bottom lip quivering and long eyelashes fluttering. Clearly she expected this maneuver to sway him, and though part of him certainly felt a desire to help her Kingston was determined to hold firm to his principles. When it became clear that her tactic had failed, she stashed the pout away as quickly as it had come out and shrugged. “Fine, I’ll just charm the salesman into giving it to me.”

She wheeled away from him and started to roll towards the cashier’s line. Kingston followed, struck by her words. Something wasn’t adding up.

“You didn’t charm me,” he pointed out. “I just told you I had money.” 

“Well it’s not for lack of trying. Why are you so good at resisting that, by the way?” 

“Wait, you  _ did  _ try to charm me?”

“Of course, what did you think that was just now?” she shook her golden head in disbelief. “I also tried back on the boat, but you wouldn’t give me the camera then either.”

“I thought that was just really bad flirting. I’ve had so many men and women try to manipulate me in so many ways throughout my life, I’ve become rather immune to it.” Kingston found himself running through a mental catalogue of each of their interactions, analyzing his responses for anything unusual. Nothing felt out of the ordinary, but now he wasn’t as confident. “Is that why I’m helping you now?”

“I’d like to think it’s because you’re a gentleman, but you’re clearly not because you said I was bad at flirting.”

“You can’t just charm the poor clerk. I thought you said you needed to remain inconspicuous in the human realm. Someone is definitely going to notice if a high-end camera goes missing from a store without being paid for.”

"Sure, but I’ll be long gone by then.” She waved a hand dismissively.

“You can’t just ruin someone’s life like that.” He admonished, grabbing the high end camera from her lap and trying hard not to shake it in her face in his irritation. Kingston could feel himself growing increasingly frustrated with her flagrant disregard for how her actions might affect others. “This equipment probably costs over a month’s salary, someone could get arrested for theft, or at the very least lose their job. Come up with a different way to get the camera.”

They glared at each other, steely grey meeting piercing blue with equal determination. Overhead there was a spitting noise, followed by a pop and a hiss. The sprinkler system kicked on, to the surprised shouts of customers and sales personnel alike. Kingston flinched and started to raise his hands protectively above his head when he realized - he and Midi were not getting wet. Her face shone triumphantly as a stone settled in his stomach.

“Freak accident,” she crooned sweetly. “If all the equipment is ruined and has to be thrown out, one missing camera is the least of their worries. No one will lose their job, so your precious human conscience can rest easy.” She held out her hand to take back the camera. 

Cooly, deliberately, he placed the camera back on the shelf. Midi’s expression fell from victorious to distress as water began to strike the equipment, now outside her sphere of safety. Without a word, Kingston gripped the handles of the wheelchair and strode purposefully towards the exit, pushing a protesting mermaid ahead of him.

The water shut off as soon as she crossed the threshold.

“Find a different way to pay.” He commanded as he wheeled her back to the car and lifted her into the seat without ceremony. They sat in silence, unsure of where to go next or how to break the tension. Suddenly Midi brightened.

“Give me your phone, I have another idea.”

Kingston only hesitated a moment, then reluctantly handed it to her. 

* * *

After obtaining an absurd amount of treats from the vending machine, the crew moved out of the mall and onto the busy Vegas streets. Lasdin had the camera in front of her and was reviewing the footage with Zarik while Oriana perched on a nearby guardrail and opened another bag of sweet and sour gummies. She still had a fine dusting of sugar at the edges of her lips and her tongue had turned a vibrant shade of blue, but of course no one noticed because she remained unseen to the general populace. 

“Okay, I admit that was a pretty good shot of the vending machine trick,” Zarik conceded. “And no one got too worked up about it before I got the coin back.”

Oriana beamed at him. “This is why I love filming your show with you Zarik, you do such a great job with misdirection and environmental manipulation. No one would suspect anything out of the ordinary.” 

He knew, having worked with Oriana for close to a season, that she was fluffing his ego, but she was also earnest and he loved the praise, so he allowed himself to swell a bit with professional pride. Lasdin was nodding her head in agreement, and the gorgon was always less lavish with her accolades. 

“But we still have to be careful. The king still has mandates about human interaction, and I doubt the Producer would be able to shield us if we breach protocol.” It certainly wouldn’t do to become complacent before the episode had finished shooting.

“Zarik has a point, Oriana. I thought we were going to be filming strange human behavior, not us flagrantly breaking the rules.” Lasdin shaded her eyes and panned through the crowd. “What were you thinking for the next shot? I can start scouting for a good setup location if you tell me what you’re going for.”

The trio bent their heads together to brainstorm. There was no shortage of performance shows, gaudily advertised at each of the many hotels. Humans strolled the strip in costumed advertisements, and Zarik pointed out a famed circus could demonstrate an ideal place for fae to blend in. Lasdin wanted to shoot more of the architecture, as it seemed every hundred yards or so there was an entirely new design vision, both precisely isolated and seamlessly integrated into the environment. Fae might appreciate the parallel, as the various Seelie and Unseelie Courts in Elphyne each manifested with their own wildly different ambiance. Then there were the humans themselves, already noted in their first shot for the variety of ways they presented themselves and interacted with the charged atmosphere of the city. A few interviews were not out of the question, though that would require developing a variety of site-specific topics. Then there was the matter of documenting how to navigate around the city, including transportation, lodging, and Oriana’s favorite segment of the show - food.

Finally they decided they would travel to where the extravagant strip began at the giant pyramid, gathering some transportation shots and architecture pans along the way. Lasdin spearheaded their navigation as the crowds pressed around them on the street, her height counterbalancing Zarik’s diminished stature and Oriana’s natural camouflage in Gaia. Every few yards another human pressed close, shoving escort pamphlets, tourism advertisements, or performance flyers towards any hand that would accept them.

They had hardly made it two blocks when they ran into a crowd that had gathered on the sidewalk surrounding a street magician, and Oriana signaled to start filming again. Lasdin pulled two smaller, less conspicuous cameras from her bag and handed one to Zarik for assistance. They split into the crowd, each circling in different direction to get different angles. In post production, Zarik would script a voiceover for the segment so he watched carefully as the “magician” worked the crowd. It was endearing to his fae sensibilities, the enthusiasm in which the humans around him bought into the misdirection. True magic, fae magic, usually slipped beyond their comprehension and was written off. Yet they wanted so badly to believe it was real, and he could feel that collective emotion begin to build energy around him. It appeared Oriana was being affected by it to, as humans began to press into the bubble of space around her. She was beginning to flicker into their collective awareness, still on the periphery. A slightly panicked look flickered across her face as she and Zarik exchanged glances - her horn and hooves were conspicuous, even in this relatively safe environment. Zarik’s mind began spinning a series of potential narratives they could use to deflect any human curiosity should she be accidentally revealed. 

In this moment of distraction, it happened. The magician had urged the crowd to press in closer to view his final trick, and eagerly they had complied. Lasdin had to raise the camera above her head as bodies surged against her. A teen jostled at her elbow, a woman tripped on her foot, and the man beside her fumbled his full body against her back. His hand slid across her rear in a manner that might have been an accident, but the fingers that dipped deeply between her legs were no mistaken stumble. Instinct took over and with a hiss, the snakes that made up Lasdin’s ponytail awoke and lashed out at the man before he could even begin to formulate an insincere apology. 

There was a burst of applause as the street magician finished his act and began passing his hat for donations, but the trio of fae were fixated on the man who had violated the gorgon. The petrification was subtle at first, looking as though he had merely paused mid-step. Then the pallor seeped from his skin, and then his clothes, slowly at the edges of his form and moving inward more rapidly as though sucked through a straw at the point where the snakes had bitten his cheek. 

Lasdin gulped down breaths and stepped hurriedly away and into Oriana’s comforting arms. “It was an accident, I swear, he just grabbed me and I reacted.” Her snakes continued to slither and writhe in agitation around her head as anger and humiliation warred on her face. “Smarmy bastard deserved it. Serves him right to be stoned, pervert.” 

The gorgon’s anger quickly bled into anxiousness as she remembered the potential consequences of her unchecked magic. Lasdin gazed pleadingly from behind her sunglasses at the unicorn. “Ori, fix him before anyone notices. Please, I don’t want to get into any trouble!”

Oriana stroked her hands down the sides of the gorgon’s head, soothing the snakes back into a stilled coif. “You won’t get in trouble. Did you happen to catch it on film?”

The crowd was beginning to disperse, and the statue of the man would soon become increasingly noticeable. Lasdin handed her camera to the director while Zarik paced around them, trying to keep the man hidden. This was proving difficult, as his height barely came to the statue’s chest.

“Look daddy, another living statue!” Too late, the lingering members of the magician’s crowd swung their attention to the new street spectacle. Zarik froze as a child pushed forward to admire the frozen man. “Oh, this one’s good! It looks so realistic!”

Inspiration stuck, and Zarik his hat with a flourish and laid it on the sidewalk. Subtly, Oriana began filming again. 

  
“Yes, ladies and gentlemen, witness the most amazing human statue! You’ve seen them before, but not like this!” The eagerness in the young boy’s eyes shone and he tugged on his father’s shirt until reluctantly a dollar bill was passed into the small hands. The boy scurried forward and dropped the bill into the hat, watching the frozen man with anticipation. A moment passed, and the statue remained a statue. There was a collective sigh of disappointment from the crowd.

Zarik danced around the boy with a wildly impish grin, placing his hands on his shoulders in a conspiratorial way. “That is the tradition, is it not? You pay the performer and are rewarded with trivial movements. Well as I said, this is not your typical performance. Whatever you do, this man  _ will not move _ . Go ahead, give him a push.” He nudged the child forward.

Hesitantly, the boy put his hand on the statue’s arm and tugged. Shock and then delight chased across his face when the statue remained perfectly still. Emboldened, he tugged harder on the arm, until he was able to lift himself completely from the ground. A low murmur of approval washed through the crowd with a scattering of applause. Zarik snatched up his hat and circled through the crowd, collecting handfuls of change as he escorted the boy back to his parent.

“Impressive, yes?” He gestured grandly to the crowd that began to grow around them. “I invite anyone who dares to step forward and try to make him move! You may try anything you like! If we succeed in thrilling your senses, please do not hesitate to show your appreciation monetarily.” There was a responding twitter of amusement.

A woman stepped forward from the crowd. She circled the frozen statue, eyeing him in critical contemplation. Slowly she reached out and ran her fingers along his neck, a light tickling gesture near the collar. When she got no response she grew bolder, tickling his waist and then his underarms. When her best efforts still failed to get a response from the living statue, she pulled out a small bill from her purse and dropped it into Zarik’s proffered hat. 

The crowd milled, but no one else stepped forward. Sensing the hesitation, the leprechaun pulled on his best showman routines. “Friends I can see you are not yet convinced of our commitment to the craft, and so we shall up the stakes with a bargain. If you fail to make my friend here move, you leave us a donation. However, if you can make him budge, even a little, everything in the hat becomes yours! The longer we try, the higher the stakes. This is Vegas, friends! Now, who’s next?”

One by one, people stepped forward to try their luck. The first attempts were simple and fairly harmless - a tug, a tickle, a kiss. Things escalated and as the pot grew, the crowd became emboldened. A shove, a slap. The fae watched with cold indifference as the humans took their revenge on the hapless pervert. A punch to the gut, a kick in the crotch - the hat was filling up, and the statue remained a statue. Zarik swallowed a satisfied smirk. No one molests a fae and gets away with it, it was time to up the stakes once more.

“It’s obviously a hoax, clearly it’s just a wax figure!” an angry voice called from the crowd. “I mean, Madame Tussauds is across the street, for crying out loud! What a con!”

The leprechaun almost snarled at the challenge, but the damage was done and the crowd already rippled with doubt. With that, it was time to wrap up. Zarik gave a questioning look to his female companions, and Lasdin nodded in satisfaction at their cold justice on her behalf. With a showman’s grace, Zarik scooped up his hat once more.

“I hear your skepticism! How can such a steadfast commitment to a performance be real? Friends, I admire your tenacity and you all made most worthy attempts to break his character...” Oriana, who had been filming steadily during the escapades, handed the camera back to Lasdin and moved in front of the stoned man. She nodded once to Zarik. “But lo! Your doubt is misplaced. Take a bow!”

Unseen by the crowd, Oriana tipped forward and touched her horn to the statue’s forehead. Like melting wax, the man’s limbs relaxed. As the belated effects of the crowd’s abuse registered the man doubled over in pain, though Zarik stepped quickly beside him with one hand on his back disguising his forward fold as a bow. The crowd erupted with applause, showering more coins and bills onto the sidewalk. 

Swiftly the trio scooped up the money and scurried away from the scene, leaving the man to slowly come back to his senses and limp away, filled with confusion and uncertainty about what had just befallen him.

~@~

Nick followed the two filmmakers from the Canal Shoppes initially out of a combination of boredom and curiosity. Clearly they had been involved with whatever had happened to the vending machine, and he wanted to know if they had other dice to roll. He’d been in the business long enough to have a few tricks himself, but he needed a better read of the hand before seeing which angle to work.

If they were grifters, he might be able to trade trick for trick. It was true that most of his work these days was above the table, but on principle he believed it important to not let any skill get rusty. Nick knew his physique might make people think he only cared about exercising his body, and he certainly did care about that as well, but he also took a certain amount of pleasure in making others believe that the size of his IQ was inversely related to his body mass index. That meant grabbing opportunities to flex the grey matter.

Or if they were somehow legitimate, maybe he could score a cameo on whatever show they were filming. There was usually some nominal amount of money to be made as a street extra. He’d done interviews for a few other travel type shows, even did a web show once where he had the opportunity to talk about being a career gambler. It was never a lot, but in his professional opinion it never hurt to network, and he could always turn a few bills into bigger change at the tables later. 

The team had stopped to film a fairly basic street magician. Street performers were a dime a dozen around Vegas and Nick split his attention between the filmers and the performer. He couldn’t figure out what drew their attention to this magician, the man was rather unoriginal. Perhaps the team had another strange gimmick planned...but no, the magician was finishing his act, and despite his careful scrutiny he hadn’t seen the filmers do anything unusual. 

He had almost convinced himself that they were simply a traditional film crew when the crowd’s attention was captured by a new performance, this time starring the short androgynous man and a living statue. Nick scoured his brain, but couldn’t recall seeing the new performer in the crowd. The living statue certainly hadn’t travelled with the two Nick had been following. Then the performance really got under way, and Nick knew that his instincts were right - there was nothing traditional about whatever these two were up to.

It was unlike any living statue performance he had seen before, that was for sure. The way the short man wheedled around the crowd was pure artistry, goading the audience towards a fevered pitch. It was impressive enough when the first few participants achieved no reaction from the statue, like when watching the tightrope walker or the flame-eater come on stage at the circus. It started with a rush of adrenaline, dramatic but tame, but with each person who stepped forward to try and break the stone performance the level of violence escalated. The jeers and taunts grew more agitated, speaking to the increasing schadenfreude of the group. Nick’s stomach soured. This was not some cute parlor trick like the vending machine.

He scanned the crowd for the camerawoman. Perhaps he could glean the nature of the gimmick if he could figure out what part she was focusing on, determine just how long this disturbing charade would play out. She was still easy to pick out from the others, standing tall among the congregation, but to his shock she was not filming. If this was not meant to be part of their show, had he completely misread their intentions? Surely there must be a reason for inciting a crowd to this level of aggression. Then he noticed; her rigid back, crossed arms, disheveled hair. She still wore the sunglasses, but the sharp furrow of her brow and thin press of her lips suggested that perhaps there was something real and sinister underlying this performance.

Nothing felt right about this. His mind reeled for a few crucial moments before settling on the only decision he could. At the center of the crowd the living statue had just received a solid kick between the legs to the chorus of sympathetic hoots and cheers. To his horror, as the next challenger stepped up to try and win the rapidly growing hat of money, Nick thought he saw the glint of a pocketknife exchange between the short man and the audience member. This performance needed to stop.

“It’s obviously a hoax, clearly it’s just a wax figure!” Nick shouted angrily, trying to disrupt the foul energy building in the crowd. “I mean, Madame Tussauds is across the street, for crying out loud! What a con!”

He didn’t miss the anger that flashed across the short man’s face, but the damage had been done and already the crowd was throwing off the savage thrall. Smooth as honey, the emcee responded to his challenge.

“I hear your skepticism! How can such a steadfast commitment to a performance be real? Friends, I admire your tenacity and you all made most worthy attempts to break his character...But lo! Your doubt is misplaced. Take a bow!” When the living statue bowed like a limp noodle, Nick knew it was over. 

He was right to have been curious about the strange pair, but maybe not for the reasons he had first suspected. Yet despite seeing two vastly different feats from the team, he was no closer to determining their methods nor their purpose. As the crowd dissipated, the duo made a rapid retreat into the nearest casino. Nick weighed his options. He could leave off now and go back to his usual haunts, putting the bizarre events of the day from his head completely. Or he could continue down this rabbit hole to determine if they were a threat or not. If their tricks continued to escalate, he would need plenty of anecdotal evidence to present to the authorities.

He chuckled softly to himself. He’d never held out much for caution - risk yields reward, after all. He hurried after them, catching sight as they retreated through a set of double doors tucked behind some gaudy statuary and oversized potted plants. Through the door he caught sight of folding tables laden with food, cables and wires, a brightly lit soundstage, and the shuffling of many darkly dressed people. A studio of some sort. Feeling a burst of confidence at encountering a more familiar setting, Nick ducked through the doors after them. It should be easy enough to blend in among the various crew and observe further.


	4. Episode 1: Showdown

The early evening found Kingston and Midi in a well-groomed gated community in the suburbs, where perfectly landscaped lawns and sleek luxury cars crawled under the skin and made visitors feel distinctly other and out of place. Strangely, Midi’s otherworldly aura didn’t stand out as much here. After the incident at the camera store, she had used his phone to search for ways to earn money quickly. To his surprise, she had found an ad for a child’s birthday party looking to hire a mermaid impersonator as part of the entertainment, needed that very night. It seemed an incredibly lucky find, but by now he was beginning to suspect Midi created her own kind of luck. 

They found the party with no trouble - children who lived in these neighborhoods were the kind whose parents spared no expense. The driveway was lined with pink and purple balloons, there was a large inflatable princess castle on the front lawn and even a small pony with a horn strapped to its forehead, poor thing. A variety of Buicks, BMWs and Lexuses lined the street and a steady stream of well groomed parents following excitable children left no confusion as to which was the party house. 

Finding a place to park was difficult, but finally Kingston eased his Honda into a spot and helped Midi into the wheelchair. He escorted the mermaid up the drive and sought out the hostess who leaned against a pillar on the front steps and was overseeing the entertainment, a glass of white wine in one perfectly manicured hand. The mother had faltered slightly as Kingston wheeled Midi up the driveway, sizing them up and down as though trying to determine whether they were party crashers. It made his blood run hot. When he explained they were answering the hastily placed advert, her botoxed brow creased slightly and she eyed the wheelchair with a dubious expression. 

“I do hope that everything will run smoothly. Normally we’d go through an agency you know. Not that we’re ungrateful for you to be able to step in on such short notice, forgive my figure out speech, but we are paying quite a bit. I expect exemplary service, are you sure you’re able to provide that?”

“Madame, I assure you that this will be a performance to remember.” Kingston cut in heatedly before Midi could respond. Thus far the mermaid had been unpredictable at best, conniving at worst, but her perseverance had earned some of his respect. The privileged arrogance of the hostess on the other hand rubbed him entirely the wrong way. The mermaid looked at him, both surprised and delighted at his disclosure. The woman pursed her lips, but waved them off towards the large swimming pool with instructions to get set up quickly while the birthday child was still riding the “unicorn” in the front yard.

“Memorable, huh?” Midi glanced over her shoulder at him coquettishly as he wheeled her along the heavily landscaped path to the backyard. “Why Kelsey, I’d almost think you’re enjoying our time together.”

Unwilling to admit to anything, Kingston opted to change the subject. He leaned close, brushing aside her golden hair to speak lowly in her ear. “This is a children’s party so keep the swim top on at all times.”

“Obviously, I’m not some pervert.” she scoffed at him. “Besides, children are already in love with me simply by virtue of being a mermaid. There is no need to further appeal to any baser desires.”

“I only want to help ensure that you get what you want without any further issue. You methods thus far have been rather unconventional. Keep your shenanigans under wraps this time, if you please.”

“Hm, well I haven’t heard you complaining so far. It might be, Chief Petty Officer, that you actually have more of an adventurous side than you let on.” She smiled at him so brightly he couldn’t resist a returning quirk of his lips, though he bit inside his cheek as an attempt to maintain the gravity of his request.

The laughter and screams of the children grew louder as they approached around the side of the house. The unicorn rides must have finished, and they were ready to burn their energy on the next feature of entertainment. With a nod, Kingston stepped aside and watched the mermaid slide out of the wheelchair and into the large swimming pool. She glided experimentally through the water with a dancer’s grace, hardly a ripple to mark her passage. Light caught on the shimmering iridescent blue, green and purple scales of her tail, reflected back on the ceramic tiles lining the pool floor to create an underwater kaleidoscope. 

There was a collective gasp of awe when the kids caught sight of her, jubilant whoops diminishing to hushed murmurs of anticipation. Midi smiled warmly, her sapphire eyes soft and inviting as she waved at the children to come closer. Hypnotized, the group of boys and girls padded over to the edge of the pool and sat giggling, feet dangling and kicking over the lip into the water. Kingston retreated to the shade of the pool house to watch her laugh and play. Midi swam to each child, exchanging introductions and asking about their various favorites and what they might request of her during her visit. She swam the length of the pool and launched herself into the air, flipping backwards like a dolphin sending a rainbow curtain of water high in her wake. The delighted squeals of the children echoed suddenly and surprisingly with his own childhood memories, so often relinquished to the back corners of his mind. 

While he had never been a child easily awed by the spectacular, his younger sister had often coerced his participation in fantastical games of imagination. He may not have been very good at them, but he loved his sister and always made an attempt for her. Even today, she chastised him brazenly for his antipathy, scolding him for the multitude of declined invitations to theme parks, theatrical performances, and escape rooms. Watching Midi cavort with the children melted something within him, reminding him of the joys of the magic and mystery.

Midi continued to romp around the pool, making hairpin turns at the walls and playfully splashing the children and watchful parents alike. Then she approached the children, who stared at her with wide eyed wonder, and offered her hand. He could not hear what she whispered in the birthday girl’s ear, but the child slipped into the water beside her. Midi placed a gentle kiss on the girl’s cheek and took her hand, and together they dove to the bottom of the pool.

One minute passed, then two. Kingston felt his heart clench in fear. He knew how long the average swimmer could remain under water, and how quickly a simple swim could end in a drowning. They had been under too long - and yet, when he made his way towards the pool to perform a rescue the girl was still moving, hand in hand with the mermaid at the bottom of the pool. The child waved cheerily up at her friends, unharmed. Another painful, anxious minute passed until Midi brought the girl back to the surface, launching her high into the air and catching her smoothly on the returning dive. 

“I did it!” the birthday girl babbled as Midi settled her on the pool edge between her friends. “I was a mermaid, I could breathe under the water!”

“That’s right,” Midi confirmed, stroking the child’s cheek affectionately. “One kiss from a true mermaid and you can be a part of her world, for a little while.”

“I wasn’t even in the pool anymore! I couldn’t see the bottom! And there were lots and lots of fishes!”

“Must be some new VR thing,” Kingston overheard one parent mutter to another. “You know how they can’t resist an opportunity to show off.”

Kingston knew that wasn’t the case, but he felt his stomach unclench in relief. Whatever fae charms Midi had cast on the humans were clearly not malicious, and not raising any suspicions among the adults. It was enough to help him make up his mind. The party was scheduled to run for another two hours, which would be plenty of time to finish what he planned to do. Quietly, he slipped away.

Midi was thoroughly enjoying herself. The children fawned over her and she thrived on their attention. Had it really only been this morning when she crossed over? She could hardly remember why she had complained so much about visiting Gaia - the humans responded beautifully to her fae charms and were eager to win her favor. Or maybe that was simply the nature of children. Either way, she delighted in fulfilling their small desires. She swam with the children, granting them breath under water and weaving fantastical illusions of an underwater paradise. When they tired of swimming they sat around her on the steps of the pool and listened with rapt attention as she spun magical tales for them.

She pretended not to notice when Kingston slipped away. The hurt she felt surprised her, the abandonment hitting her low and heavy in her gut. After the disagreement at the camera store earlier that day she had felt belittled and judged, and strangely wanted to improve her esteem in his eyes. She felt oddly seen in his presence, without the shroud of charms and magic she usually was able to use around humans. There was something about Kelsey’s aura that reminded her of Eahid, and elicited the same desire within her to please. She had hoped to show him that her magic wasn’t merely for manipulation and trickery, but it seemed he was uninterested in her overtures.

That was fine then. She’d finish this job, buy the stupid camera and return to Elphyne and never have to interact with that infuriating human again. She threw herself back into being the best party entertainment possible. She swam and sang, splashed and dove until the sun began to set and the air cooled. Her audience was utterly enchanted, not even calls for cake and presents could tear them from the poolside. By the time the party wrapped up, Midi’s spirits had improved immeasurably. Kelsey had returned at some point and was waiting for her by the poolside with a large towel.

“Oh they were just adorable, weren’t they?” Midi crooned as she accepted the proffered towel and began to wring out her hair. “I mean, humans already have such fleeting lives but when they’re that young they just seem to vibrate with potential!”

“I did promise the family a memorable performance, and you certainly delivered.” His mouth quirked in what she assumed was his approximation of a smile. “You made a lot of children happy, I’m impressed.”

She waved her hand nonchalantly, but could still feel the heat of a blush in her cheeks. “It was just some simple fae magic, a few harmless charms. And as I said, children are easy, they still remember how to believe in magic.”

Kelsey rolled her to the car and helped her into the front seat while she waved goodbye to the party guests. She grabbed his arm. “Wait, we still need to get paid!”

“I took the liberty of speaking with the hostess before you finished to secure your payment. Look in the backseat.” 

She twisted in her seat to look. A large plastic bag sat on the grey upholstery. The plastic rustled loudly as she grabbed it and pulled out the box inside, turning it this way and that as she examined the specs. “I can’t believe you already went and got a camera for me!”

“Well, I couldn’t risk you making another scene at the store.” Kelsey cocked his head at her and she caught a hint of amusement in his tone. 

“I didn’t think the one job would cover it.” Midi admitted, though she didn’t confess her secret hope that if she needed to find additional ways to earn money, she might extend her time with Kingston. 

He cleared his throat awkwardly. “The mother was extremely satisfied with the quality of your performance. Wanted to recommend you to all her friends.” As he said it though, her eye caught on the price sticker. She knew how good of a show she had put on, but even a generous tip wouldn’t cover the difference in cost. He clearly had paid generously for it, despite his earlier refusal to do so. She held the box close, cradling it like a precious gift.

“Thank you,” she whispered, covering his large hand the steering wheel with her own. “For helping, for driving me around, for everything.”

He stared at where their hands met for an endless moment. “It has been a singularly unique experience.” He turned his gaze to her, face unreadable. “Now what?”

Midi wished for the thousandth time that she could use her magic on him. Had he bought the camera as a gesture of goodwill, or as a means to be rid of her? Did he feel the same tension between them that she did? What would he say if she said she wanted to stay longer in Gaia? She searched his face for answers and came up short. Reluctantly, she turned her eyes away and folded her hands back around her prize.

“I suppose...I go home.”

“I suppose you do.” The car stuttered to life, as though uneager to move them towards their departure. They sat in silence for the entire drive back to the docks.


	5. Episode 1: Sunset

Everything seemed fine at first when she arrived back in her Elphyne court. She’d found Ruu and Jav in the cutting booth, heads bent together with the sound tech, Aereris. The cerulean-haired siren deftly followed Ruu’s suggestions, fingers flying across keys and sliders as she sorted through the footage from yesterday. It seemed they were able to salvage the material after all. Had the Goblin Market really been that recent? Midi felt like her time in Gaia had stretched for eternity. 

She handed the new camera over to Jav for inspection, and he assured her that the specs were of impressive quality. She felt oddly bereft as it left her possession, a physical reminder of her strange adventures with Kingston given away. A part of her wished she had asked him for some trinket to keep, but perhaps that would have been odd. Instead, she settled for imagining every time she filmed in front of this new camera that he was watching from the other end. At least there was a silver lining to leaving Gaia behind. There would be no interruption to her filming schedule, and if she was very lucky the Producer wouldn’t even have had time to notice her little side trip. 

She started to make her way back to her trailer when a gnomish PA intercepted her. “Midi Maloha? You’re to report to Eahid’s office.”

Or maybe he had noticed. Before she could inquire further, the PA scurried off across the lot towards the soundstage. Apprehensive, she turned on her heel and made her way back into the studio. She and Eahid got along fairly well, considering he was the Lord of the Court and had nearly absolute power over the fae he ruled. The griffin king ruled the production studio fairly and treated all members and crew with dignity, contrary to many of the other courts in Elphyne, Seelie and Unseelie alike.

To her surprise, Zarik was sitting outside the Producer’s office when she arrived. The siblings exchanged uneasy glances as Midi perched on a chair next to him, hands folded in her lap.

“So, what did you do?” she hazarded, watching as his fingers tapped a stilted percussion on his knee. Zarik’s fingers stilled as he replayed in his mind how many times they had flaunted their magic in Gaia to film the last episode - the lucky coin and the vending machine, Lasdin’s accidental petrification, and none of the humans charmed or discredited. Still, on all technicalities his team had behaved within the mandates proclaimed by King Oberon. Jade eyes flashed in annoyance and he huffed a strand of strawberry hair from his eyes.

“Nothing. What did  _ you _ do?” he shot back at her. Midi thought of the camera store drowned in her magic, the children she’d granted visions of Elphyne to, but mostly she thought of Kelsey, fully aware of her origins and still free in Gaia. She started to formulate a retort to deflect her brother’s inquiry when the office door opened, snapping both fae to attention.

Tall and lithe, the griffin had a mane of black hair that was messy from being pushed out of his sharp blue eyes. He peered down his long aquiline nose at the two show hosts but said nothing while they fidgeted under his gaze. Finally he sighed, wind stretched out in defeat as he ran long fingers through his hair again.

“You’re both here. Come in.”

Meekly they followed him into the large office space. One wall was covered in orderly rows of screens that flipped silently through a variety of show feeds sent directly from the cutting room. The other wall was a chaotic arrangement of variously sized mirrors, most of them fogged and non-reflective, though shadowy outlines moved across the silvered surfaces of a few. Midi’s eyes flickered to the mirrors briefly and swallowed. Eahid probably was aware of her venture in Gaia, then. A row of windows along the back wall overlooked the main soundstage, and in front of the window sat a large oak desk carved with roses and a throne-like chair of oiled leather and crushed velvet. There were no other seats in the room.

Oriana and Lasdin were already standing at attention in front of the large desk and the Maloha siblings took up spots beside them. All four watched silently as Eahid crossed behind the desk and sat, leaning forward with his long fingers tented beneath his nose. His eyes scanned across the fae gathered before him, lingering despondently on Oriana.

“I just saw the episode footage for  _ Mapping Gaia _ . I can’t believe how reckless you were!” Eahid scrubbed at his eyes as his forlorn expression shifted into frustration. “Oriana, I thought the changes you made to the show were intentionally avant garde, a way to hook new viewership or play with the format to boost ratings.”

“Well they did, didn’t they?” Lasdin countered, angling her body ever so slightly in front of her director’s. The look the Producer gave her made her step back. He continued as though the interruption had not occurred. 

“Using Zarik’s leprechaun gold, turning Lasdin’s petrification into a goddamn  _ spectacle _ , I knew unicorns weren’t terribly bright but this was downright stupidity!”

Oriana’s eyes sparkled with tears but her expression was defiant. “If you didn’t think I was smart, maybe you shouldn’t have hired me!”

“I’m getting to that.” Eahid snapped, causing everyone to recoil. “Unfortunately, no one else would put up with Zarik’s snobbery. I was lucky that you also managed to have a good eye, but it seems your sense has completely failed you this time. The backlash this court is going to face due directly to your actions is unacceptable. Look what followed you home!”

He pointed dramatically to the window, waiting with an accusing glare as the fae circled the wide desk to follow where his finger directed. Standing next to the break table was a man none of them recognized. Tall and extremely well muscled, he was clearly failing all his attempts to blend in. In his hands was a plate overflowing with various snacks. 

The four pressed close to the window, shoving at each other to get a better look. There was no telltale aura to determine what the nature of the visitor was. It was as though one communal brain cell suddenly fired among the group. Zarik gave voice to everyone’s thoughts, barely whispering in his shock and horror. “Is he…human?”

“ _ Yes _ !” Eahid couldn’t keep the exasperation from his voice. “He crossed the border at the gate you opened after filming. You certainly piqued his interest.”

“Shit, someone stop him from eating! We’ll never get rid of him!”

“Clearly it’s too late for that,” Eahid growled. “he's stuck here now. You’ve managed to violate PUHCA law, which means Oberon’s knights will be in court to determine that I’ve properly handled the situation.”

He ushered them away from the window and sank back onto his chair. He no longer looked angry, just tired. Oriana was shell shocked, her eyes downcast as she chewed on her lower lip. Lasdin continued to look towards the window with an expression that alternated between intrigue and guilt. Zarik’s fists clenched and unclenched at his side but he kept his face blank and Midi, still uncertain as to why she had been summoned, took a subtle step towards her brother’s side to offer what support she could. 

“And how have you decided to handle the situation, my lord?” Oriana’s voice came out strained, and Eahid wilted at her tone.

“You’ve left me no choice, Oriana. You put me in this position. You and your team are fired.” She recoiled as though physically struck. Eahid reached a hand towards her, then let it drop back onto the table. “I’m sorry, but I can’t keep your show.”

“My lord!” Zarik burst out, but Eahid cut him off.

“In the meantime, I’m putting the human under your team’s care. Since it is your fault he is here, it is your responsibility to get him acclimated to his new life in Elphyne.” He turned his attention to the mermaid, who straightened nervously under his piercing gaze. If what had just happened to her brother’s team was any indication, things clearly weren’t going to go well for her either.

“Midi, not only did you take an unsanctioned trip to Gaia, but you purposefully gifted humans sight into Elphyne and failed to remove the memories upon your return. In addition, you had prolonged exposure to a human who held a position of power within their government and  _ again _ failed to remove memories.” With each accusation Midi shrunk further into her shoulders, but at the mention of Kelsey she was compelled to respond.

“I know I made a mistake with the children, but they are  _ children _ Eahid, no one would believe them anyway!” No need to mention that she had promised Kingston that she would not manipulate the humans. “And as for Kelsey, I  _ tried _ to charm him more than once! It didn’t work, so what was I supposed to do?”

“You are to do whatever is necessary for the protection of all Fae in this realm!” Eahid shot back acidly. “Do not try to make excuses for your own incompetence! You’re also fired.”

“But--!” 

Eahid held up a hand in warning. In the following silence, he looked carefully at the reactions of the four fae he had summoned. His expression softened and he spoke gently.

“You are all beloved members of my court. I do not deal out punishments lightly, as you well know, and this turn of events breaks my heart. So I shall offer you a deal; if you can come up with a pitch for a replacement show, we’ll see what can be done. You have 24 hours to come up with a proposal that I can pitch to King Oberon when he arrives.” Eahid rose from his chair and crossed to the door, opening it as a clear dismissal. “I wish you luck.”

The ember of hope he left them with sputtered dully in hearts doused in despondency. They filed out of his office leaning on one another for support as minds churned over what would come next.


End file.
